Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Hailey
I’m sitting in the office of Sara Velazquez, the attorney Jason set up an appointment with, for her to look over the prenup his attorney drafted.
She’s dressed in dark slacks and a blouse, looking like nearly any other office worker, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek bun.
She has a nice office—a set of oak bookshelves on one wall filled with books, awards, and knicknacks that look like souvenirs from her travels.
The other walls have tasteful artwork as well as her degrees proudly displayed.
Her desk is more minimalist—glass-topped metal with a laptop and a second monitor off to one side.
There’s a stack of folders next to her laptop and a file cabinet in the corner next to her desk within easy reach.
She’s reading on the second monitor right now, looking over the prenup, her lips pursed, and her brow furrowed behind her dark purple cat-eye glasses.
When she gets to the bottom, she scrolls back up again, her eyes narrowing as she quickly double-checks a couple of points.
Then she clears her throat and scoots over so she can face me fully, moving the laptop to the side and folding her hands on the desk in front of her. “So.”
“So,” I repeat.
Her mouth hooks to the side. “This is an interesting prenup,” she says at last.
“I know. And I’m sure you’re going to tell me that Washington is a community property state, and without a prenup I’d be entitled to half his assets.”
Her brows lift. “I see you’re aware of that. And are you aware of exactly what his assets are and how much they’re worth?”
Pressing my lips together, I shake my head. “I have some idea, but I don’t know the specifics, no. I haven’t asked. It doesn’t matter, though. I don’t feel that I should be entitled to those things that he earned prior to us getting married.”
“And what about what he earns while you’re married?”
I shake my head again. “Even then. It’s his money. He’s earning it. I don’t have anything to do with his hockey career. And in the same way, there’s a clause that means he’s not entitled to anything I earn during the marriage or any of the assets I bring into the marriage, right?”
She nods at that, glancing back at the monitor. “That’s true …”
Spreading my hands, I say, “Look. I know I don’t have a lot of assets, so this is very one-sided.
And I can see how you might think it is more balanced in his favor than mine.
According to Jason, even his attorney objected to the settlement number, saying it was too low.
But Jason knows me well enough to realize I’d have a hard time accepting even that much.
He says that’s the compromise. So, if that’s your only real objection to this document, know that my objection is the same, but for the opposite reason. ”
She studies me a moment. “You’d rather take less?”
I dip my chin in a nod. “I don’t think Jason will sign it if we reduce the number, though, and that seems like a silly thing to fight about.”
“I would agree with that. Well, if you’re otherwise satisfied, then feel free to sign it.
My professional advice is to request a higher settlement, given that I have reviewed his financials.
But if you’re not comfortable doing that and this is the number you and Jason have agreed to compromise on, then you can sign it today. He’s in the waiting room, correct?”
“Yes, he brought me today.”
“Perfect.” She stands, moving to the door. “Natalie, can you please get Mr. Chalmers from the waiting room and bring him to my office? And bring your notary kit. We have a document that you’ll need to notarize.”
A few minutes later, Jason appears in the door, giving me a soft smile and touching the back of my chair as he takes the seat next to mine. “Everything okay?” he asks quietly.
“Miss McKay has said she’s amenable to the terms of this prenuptial agreement, so if you’re prepared as well, you can sign it today. My assistant Natalie is a notary, so she’ll be able to notarize it for you.”
Natalie comes in as Sara finishes speaking, setting two copies of the prenup in front of us, then arranging her tools. “Do you both have valid photo IDs on you? A driver’s license or a passport?”
Nodding, I pull my phone out, sliding my driver’s license out of the pocket on the back of my case and handing it to her while Jason fishes his out of his wallet.
She inspects both of them, looking between my driver’s license and me before doing the same to Jason.
Then she says, “If you’ll sign here and here,” and points to the signature line above my name on each copy with a pen she then offers to me.
With a quick glance between her, Sara, and Jason, I take the pen, scoot forward in my chair, and scribble my name, dating it underneath. Nervous, I nearly drop the pen on the desk and scrub my hands on my thighs as I scoot back in my chair.
Jason leans over, touching my knee lightly with his fingers. “Are you okay?” His eyes are concerned. “We don’t have to do this, you know. I’m okay with not having one.”
Clearing her throat, Sara draws our attention to her. Holding her hands up, palms out, “I’m not your attorney, but given your assets and career, I can’t imagine your attorney would advise getting married without one.”
“Even so,” Jason says to me. “I don’t need it.”
That settles me, and I nod. “I know. But Ms. Velazquez is right.”
“Please, call me Sara,” she interjects.
“Sara is right. We should have one. I just get nervous about signing contracts, is all. Even the updated Terms and Agreements of phone apps make my palms a little sweaty.”
“That’s not that ridiculous,” Sara says. “Some of the privacy terms are unconscionable on those things. You should feel worried when a giant corporation is trying to track every aspect of your life.”
“You’re sure?” Jason asks once more. At my nod, he leans forward, signs the documents, and passes them to Natalie, who stamps and signs both of them as well.
“These are for you,” she says, placing one in front of Jason and one in front of me.
“You’ll want to keep those somewhere safe,” Sara advises. “Or scan them as backup. Without some form of the document, the prenup will be unenforceable.”
“Good to know,” murmurs Jason, and I turn my head sharply, giving him a quizzical look.
“You’ll also be able to amend the agreement if you need to with a postnuptial agreement,” Sara says. “Should either of you wish to revise things. You’ll both need to agree on any revisions, of course, but it’s always an option.”
“Thank you for your time,” I say, infusing as much warmth into my tone as I can. “I appreciate your help.”
“My pleasure.” She stands and offers her hand to me across the desk, which I shake before she turns and shakes Jason’s hand as well.
Paperwork in hand, he escorts me from the office with his hand on the small of my back.
At first, it confuses me a little, but then I remember that we’re not telling people this is only a formality for paperwork reasons.
Everyone will think we’re getting married because we’re in love, not because I’m broke and desperate and Jason has a mountain of guilt combined with a white-knight complex.
When he holds the door open for me, I smile at him. “Thank you,” I murmur, hoping he knows I mean more than just for holding my door. Even if I think he’s crazy for doing this, it doesn’t mean I’m not incredibly grateful.
“You should text Maggie,” he says as soon as we’re in the car. “See where she wants to meet up.”
“She already told me.” I rattle off the name and address so he can put it in the GPS. “I’ll let her know that I’m on my way, though.”
We meet Maggie at a little coffee shop in downtown Seattle. I don’t recognize her, of course, because I’ve never met her before. But she’s with a large, handsome man who Jason greets. “Bouchard! I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Of course! I want to see the woman who’s captured all your free time and attention.
” He turns to me, offering a wide smile and holding out his hand.
“You must be Hailey. I’m Jack Bouchard, one of Chalmers’ teammates.
We’ve played on the same line off and on the last few years, so I’ve got all the insider info if you need any.
” Leaning in close, he whispers, “And don’t worry about the sock thing. He’ll eventually wash them.”
Confused and a little bit alarmed, I look at Jason. “Sock thing?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he says, glaring at Bouchard, who laughs before elaborating.
“When we’re on a winning streak, Chalmers doesn’t wash his socks. He says it brings us good luck.”
“We always have winning streaks when I do it, don’t we?”
Bouchard raises an eyebrow. “And that’s because of disgusting socks?”
“Like you don’t wrap your stick the same way every time for luck.”
Shaking his head, Bouchard holds up his hands. “That’s totally different.”
“How?” Jason demands.
“For one thing, it’s not sweaty socks.”
“Hi, I’m Maggie,” interjects the shorter woman next to Bouchard, casting an amused glance between the men who’ve subsided to grumbling at her interruption.
She has her shoulder-length brown hair in a half-up style, red lipstick that nearly matches her top, framing her warm smile.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you. Jason’s been telling us about you. ”
“Oh, he has?” I cut a look to Jason, who’s still defending his stinky socks to his teammate.
“Don’t worry,” she says, touching my arm lightly. “Only good things. He says you’re a musician?”
I nod. “Violinist.”
“Wow. That’s so cool. I always wanted to play an instrument, but never found the time. We were a sports family, so we spent a lot of time at games instead.”
“Yeah. It can be tricky to balance those things.” I learned that from trying to play sports to make my parents happy when I was growing up.
Volleyball and softball, though I didn’t last long in volleyball.
Once we had to overhand serve, I lacked the strength to get it very far and got cut from the team.
Softball lasted a little longer, but it interfered with my lessons so much—and didn’t have the desired effect of gaining my parents’ attention—so I quit after my freshman year of high school.
“Are you much of a sports fan?” Maggie asks, smiling hopefully.
“Oh, well …”
I leave that hanging for long enough that she chuckles. “Don’t worry. You won’t be the only WAG who’s not.”
“WAG?”
“Oh, sorry. It stands for wives and girlfriends. A few of the other women aren’t really into sports, but the games are fun regardless.
” She casts a glance over at Jason and her boyfriend, who seem to have moved on to speculation about the upcoming season and the changes to their team.
“Well, it seems the boys are well occupied. Do you want a coffee before we go? Or are you ready to go shopping?”
“A coffee would be great, actually.”
Jason’s not as oblivious to our conversation as I thought, apparently, because he perks up right then.
“You want your usual? I’ll grab you one.
Wait here.” And then he heads over to the counter to place an order, leaving me all alone with both Maggie and the giant of a hockey player next to her.
He wraps an arm around her, letting his hand rest on her waist, and she leans into him, both of them so casual about it that it seems almost unconscious.
“How long have you two been together?”
Maggie looks up at Jason, giving him an inscrutable look. “Hmm. How long would you say it’s been?”
He quirks an eyebrow back at her. “Depends on what you consider our first date?”
“Well, we went out on quite a few dates before we actually started dating.”
“Uh …” How does that even work? I want to ask the question, but I also don’t want to be rude. Plus, I just met these people.
Maggie laughs. “We met about a year ago. We became official a few months later. So … nine months? Ish?”
“Got it.”
They both chuckle at that, like I made some kind of joke, but I’m rescued from trying to figure out why that’s funny by Jason returning. “It’ll be ready in just a minute. Do you know where you’re planning to take Hailey?” he asks Maggie.
“I have a few places in mind. I wasn’t sure how bridal you were wanting to look, so I figured we could hit a mix of department stores, boutiques, and actual bridal shops.”
“Oh, well, uh …”
“Just give them a chance,” Jason whispers. “If you don’t want a poofy dress with a train, you don’t have to get one.”
“Well, if you’re wanting to take it home, that probably won’t be an option. It takes months to get a wedding dress in if you have to order it. But don’t worry. We’ll find something that you’ll love. I promise.”